Humber First Year Experience spooks students with haunted maze

Students bravely navigated through the Humber First Year Experience’s Halloween maze craze at North campus.

They entered the pitch-black haunted maze, at their own risk, in groups of four with only glow-in-the-dark bracelets to light their way.

Outside the maze stood a long line of eager students who appeared to grow more excited with every shriek and scream overheard while awaiting their turn.

“It was really dark and I couldn’t see where I was going,” said mechanical engineering student David Webb. “Then something grabbed my ankle and I almost ran into a wall screaming.”

Once on the other side, mentors from FYE handed out fruit punch and loot bags filled with treats and candy as rewards to the students.

A booth was also set up with Halloween hats and accessories for participants to take photos to mark their achievement.

“I’ve been through it four times and it’s great,” said Gurj Kang, a peer mentor from FYE. “It’s a really good way to allow students to let loose, especially after midterms, and have fun.”

Senior and peer mentors from FYE had been setting up the maze since early Friday in B Building. The maze was then open to the public from 4 p.m. until 6:30 p.m.

“We literally constructed a maze inside a pitch-dark room and we have people in costumes and masks hiding to jump out at unsuspecting people,” said FYE peer mentor Alexandra Dereviankina.

“People have been going in and they just start screaming, and, so far, I haven’t had any complaints,” she said.

The haunted maze was inspired by popular Halloween events like Casa Loma’s Legends of Horror and Wonderland’s Halloween Haunt, said Henry Gonzalez, a senior mentor from FYE and mastermind behind the event.

“I remember, in my first year, that I didn’t want to attend many school events because I thought they were all corny,” he said. “For this, we really wanted to create an event in school that people would actually want to attend, and I think we did.”

FYE hosts events to encourage students, especially the first year students, to engage in the Humber community and make friends.

“The First Year Experience is all about helping students transition into college life and these events can help students release some stress and meet new people,” Dereviankina said.

FYE is hosting other upcoming events including a first generation event (for those who are the first in their family to receive post-secondary education) on Nov. 8, and a Harry Potter movie marathon week starting Nov. 14.